Transcription of Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
1 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 CHAPTER 19 CONTENTSC orporate Manslaughter and Corporate homicide1 The offenceRelevant duty of care2 Meaning of relevant duty of care 3 Public policy decisions, exclusively public functions and statutoryinspections4 Military activities5 Policing and law enforcement6 Emergencies7 Child-protection and probation functionsGross breach8 Factors for juryRemedial orders and publicity orders9 Power to order breach etc to be remedied10 Power to order conviction etc to be publicisedApplication to particular categories of organisation11 Application to Crown bodies12 Application to armed forces13 Application to police forces14 Application to
2 PartnershipsCorporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c. 19)iiMiscellaneous15 Procedure, evidence and sentencing16 Transfer of functions17 DPP s consent required for proceedings18No individual liability19 Convictions under this Act and under health and safety legislation20 Abolition of liability of corporations for Manslaughter at common lawGeneral and supplemental21 Power to extend section 1 to other organisations22 Power to amend Schedule 123 Power to extend section 2(2)24 Orders25 Interpretation26 Minor and consequential amendments27 Commencement and savings28 Extent and territorial application29 Short titleSchedule 1 List of government departments etcSchedule 2 Minor and consequential amendmentsELIZABETH IIc.
3 19 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 20072007 CHAPTER 19An Act to create a new offence that, in England and Wales or NorthernIreland, is to be called Corporate Manslaughter and, in Scotland, is to be calledcorporate Homicide ; and to make provision in connection with that offence.[26th July 2007]EITENACTED by the Queen s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice andconsent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this presentParliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows.
4 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate homicide1 The offence(1)An organisation to which this section applies is guilty of an offence if the wayin which its activities are managed or organised (a)causes a person s death, and(b)amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by theorganisation to the deceased.(2)The organisations to which this section applies are (a)a corporation;(b)a department or other body listed in Schedule 1;(c)a police force;(d)a partnership, or a trade union or employers association, that is anemployer.
5 (3)An organisation is guilty of an offence under this section only if the way inwhich its activities are managed or organised by its senior management is asubstantial element in the breach referred to in subsection (1).BCorporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c. 19)2(4)For the purposes of this Act (a) relevant duty of care has the meaning given by section 2, read withsections 3 to 7;(b)a breach of a duty of care by an organisation is a gross breach if theconduct alleged to amount to a breach of that duty falls far below whatcan reasonably be expected of the organisation in the circumstances.
6 (c) senior management , in relation to an organisation, means the personswho play significant roles in (i)the making of decisions about how the whole or a substantialpart of its activities are to be managed or organised, or(ii)the actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantialpart of those activities.(5)The offence under this section is called (a) Corporate Manslaughter , in so far as it is an offence under the law ofEngland and Wales or Northern Ireland;(b) Corporate Homicide , in so far as it is an offence under the law ofScotland.
7 (6)An organisation that is guilty of Corporate Manslaughter or Corporate homicideis liable on conviction on indictment to a fine.(7)The offence of Corporate Homicide is indictable only in the High Court duty of care2 Meaning of relevant duty of care (1)A relevant duty of care , in relation to an organisation, means any of thefollowing duties owed by it under the law of negligence (a)a duty owed to its employees or to other persons working for theorganisation or performing services for it;(b)a duty owed as occupier of premises.
8 (c)a duty owed in connection with (i)the supply by the organisation of goods or services (whether forconsideration or not),(ii)the carrying on by the organisation of any construction ormaintenance operations,(iii)the carrying on by the organisation of any other activity on acommercial basis, or(iv)the use or keeping by the organisation of any plant, vehicle orother thing;(d)a duty owed to a person who, by reason of being a person withinsubsection (2), is someone for whose safety the organisation isresponsible.
9 (2)A person is within this subsection if (a)he is detained at a custodial institution or in a custody area at a court orpolice station;(b)he is detained at a removal centre or short-term holding facility; Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c. 19)3(c)he is being transported in a vehicle, or being held in any premises, inpursuance of prison escort arrangements or immigration escortarrangements;(d)he is living in secure accommodation in which he has been placed;(e)he is a detained patient.
10 (3)Subsection (1) is subject to sections 3 to 7.(4)A reference in subsection (1) to a duty owed under the law of negligenceincludes a reference to a duty that would be owed under the law of negligencebut for any statutory provision under which liability is imposed in place ofliability under that law.(5)For the purposes of this Act, whether a particular organisation owes a duty ofcare to a particular individual is a question of judge must make any findings of fact necessary to decide that question.
